HISTORY OF SUREFOOT

A Skiing Success Story

As Andy Bigford of Ski Magazine put it, "Surefoot has done more to keep skiers happy than any retail store in the world." It's no wonder then that Surefoot was awarded Ski Magazine's Gold Medal "National Shop of the Year" in 2001, and has received regional Gold Medal "Shop of the Year" awards every year since opening its doors. Starting out in a tiny, closet-sized location in Park City, Utah, Surefoot has grown to numerous locations in North America and Europe and sold nearly half a million custom ski boots along the way. Surefoot's growth and success is particularly amazing when you understand how the company came into being.

The Surefoot story begins in a small ski town many years ago. There, two brothers named Bob and Russ Shay grew up with a relentless passion for skiing. Every chance they had, they were out on the hill. They had first tracks in the morning and were the last skiers on the slopes at night. Skiing was their passion and their life. In fact, the only thing they didn't like about skiing was the ski boots. Ill-fitting and mass-produced, ski boots were and are designed to fit everyone-without fitting anyone. This made them extremely painful, especially for Bob, who often retreated to a stairwell in the lodge after a hard day of skiing so no one would see the pain in his face caused by his ski boots.

The brothers' interest in finding the perfect fit intensified as Russ embarked on a successful career in ski racing-a sport where even the slightest advantage can be the difference between winning and losing. They relentlessly searched for any edge in training, technique, and, of course, equipment. But the one thing that never seemed quite right was the ski boots. They were somehow always too small, too tight, or, worst of all, too big and sloppy. And every ski shop seemed to have different ideas about how they should fit. So Bob and Russ began to experiment. Using tools in their family's garage, they ground, sawed, cut, padded, and pounded away at ski boots. Their vision was to combine comfort and performance to build a ski boot that would fit like it was made for you instead of a generic foot. It took a long time. Twenty years, in fact. But the end result made it all worth it. What they discovered is that the only way to achieve the ideal fit is to build a totally custom boot.

Thirty years and nearly half a million pairs of ski boots later, Surefoot is now the world's biggest and best ski boot specialty store. Their worldwide locations have a handpicked and personally trained corps of boot fitting specialists. Instead of power tools and guesswork, they now use precise state-of-the-art technology to deliver the guaranteed best fitting, best performing ski boots possible. In fact, most people who try Surefoot's Custom Ski Boots agree that they are the world's most comfortable ski boots.

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